The Legend of Zedekiah
by SomeRandomPenName
Summary: "I wish you didn't have to go." Later that night, the thought would occur to Prince Zedekiah that he had brought all of this on himself by speaking those words, and he would regret them bitterly. But at first, he didn't regard the keese as the gods answer to his wish. A gender bender one-shot collection featuring Link as farm girl Lieke and Zelda as Prince Zedekiah.
1. The Forgotten Tomb

The Legend of Zedekiah

The Forgotten Tomb

1

Night had embraced the quiet town of half-timbered houses in its numbing arms, hushing the garish terracotta roofs. A refreshing wind pressed the tall firs aside, swept through the windows and chased the scorching summer heat. Castle Town was mostly asleep.

Yet, in her room, Lieke relished in the caress of the breeze reaching her desk, tickling her sunburnt skin, toying with her wild and generous mane of dark blonde hair. Opening her eyes, she became aware of the danger in which the flickering flame of her candle was and swiftly hid it behind a wall of books. Books she had to study at night if she ever wanted to be more than a simple farmgirl. Although her father had given her some useful manuscripts—usually about religion—most of those heavy volumes came from her best friend's personal library.

The young hylian sighed, struggling to keep her lids from falling over her dry eyes. This text on ridding equipment vocabulary was so boring. Why did so many tiny parts need to have their own complex name? Why couldn't they just be "the small ring on the upper part of the thingy"? That worked just fine for communication on the parsonage's farm. In her frustrated weariness, head resting in her palms, she drifted nearer and nearer to the world of dreams.

"Lieke," a soft voice called in the darkness of her mind. "Wake up."

She was so comfortable.

"Wake up sleepyhead, or I am letting myself in," the voice insisted, sounding both amused and annoyed.

Lieke jerked up from her working table, eying her window by reflex. The black silhouette of a timid hand greeted her behind the moonlit stain glass, soon followed by the outline of a familiar head. She jumped to her feet and carefully swung the second half of the window open, smothering its indignant screech as much as she could.

Her visitor sneaked into the small room. Lieke didn't need more than the dim candlelight to see him; she knew Prince Zedekiah by heart. Hair the color of wheat fields rocked under the sun, sleek and always perfectly groomed. Slender shape, suited for intellectual and dexterous work. Most of all, piercing blue eyes that seemed to dive into one's soul—and Lieke suspected that there was more truth than metaphor to that last impression.

"It's almost better when you are asleep! Contacting you in your dreams is way more discreet than knocking on the window," he smiled, elegantly striding towards the desk. "Started without me, I see?"

Zedekiah, despite being a year younger than her, stood as high as the sturdy farm girl did. He folded the dark coat he wore on his clandestine escapades and neatly laid it over the chair Lieke was sleeping in moments ago. The girl sat on the edge of her small bed, unconsciously rubbing her eyes.

"I tried," she admitted. "I didn't think you'd be coming tonight."

"Why ever not?" the prince replied, grabbing the book that had claimed her consciousness.

"I thought you'd want to rest. For tomorrow."

He glanced her way, flashing those blue irises, before returning to the pages in his hands.

"Rest is all I'll be able to do for three days," he said. "What won't be in that temple with me is good reading."

"I'd hardly call that _good_ reading," Lieke grumbled.

Tomorrow evening would mark the beginning of the Allgodhayz holiday; three sacred days of devotion to the three gods. If most citizens closed shop for the three days, few were those who actually respected traditional fasting. As for Zedekiah, a descendant of the gods themselves, who turned seventeen this year, he was expected to cloister himself in the Temple of All Gods with nothing other than his prayers and holy water to keep him company.

Far from finding fault in this, Lieke admired her friend's devotion to the gods—if anything, it was what brought them together. Her father was the castle's high priest. The same father who was currently soundly asleep in his study like every evening, just below their feet, unaware of the girl's lessons to infiltrate the high spheres of life in Hyrule.

2

Zedekiah's hand went to fiddle with the bracelet that was absent from his wrist in this incognito costume. There was another reason for his surprise visit, but he still hadn't decided whether to confide in his quiet friend. He didn't like the idea of burdening her mind with problems that were so decidedly out of her hands. Yet, if there was one opinion he cared to listen to, it was Lieke's.

"Since there obviously won't be any efficient studying done tonight, there is something else I'd like to discuss with you," he started hesitantly.

Lieke's eyes, their irises seemingly cut out from the night sky awaiting outside, shot up to meet his, their gaze attentive and determined—as it was whenever he asked anything of her.

"This afternoon, Mother received a most singular visitor," he continued. "By her stature and tone, I assumed a woman. But she was veiled. I could only distinguish her eyes…"

Zedekiah wondered how to best express the feeling he had experienced upon seeing the stranger.

"They felt evil."

The concentrated frown knitting Lieke's severe brows did not falter, as though she had been expecting this announcement all along.

"There is more. A strand of hair escaped her veil: it was as red as flames. And she was uncommonly tall. No hylian is that tall."

"You don't think that…" His stoic friend interrupted herself, probably hit by the improbability of such an idea.

"I know it sounds crazy," the prince sighed.

Lieke ran a hand in her unruly blonde hair, a concentrated look on her face.

"But Gerudo are always male," she pondered.

So they have been, for centuries. This nation of great warriors dwelled in to the west, beyond the desert. They occasionally traveled to central Hyrule, in search of a mate, but mostly they kept to themselves. The fact that the few hylians having met those giants of the desert were surprised by their charming, almost bewitching behavior, only made the majority of hylians particularly suspicious of them. Numerous were the tales of women having followed a tall redheaded man into the desert never to be seen again, converted to their secretive, perhaps unholy way of life. But Zedekiah knew those to be falsehoods, as women were strictly forbidden in their far away fortress. He had visited the place once, invited in his mother's place by their chief, Nabooris. What he had seen was a thriving exotic city, filled with families of fathers and sons as caring and lively as any hylian home. There were in fact a few hylians living in the smaller villages erected around the fortress.

"Indeed," Zedekiah agreed. "But the legends say that a woman can be born, and should that happen, she'd become their queen."

To his friend's surprise, the girl's face illuminated.

"Oh, I remember reading about this now!" she exclaimed.

She rummaged through the piles of books on her desk until she extirpated a badly battered book. The binding barely held the pages back, and a few leaves whirled out as she brought it close to her nose. The title read 'Hyrule Historia'.

"Mmf. There isn't much more on the subject," she said, disappointed.

Zedekiah was not surprised. He glanced at the starry sky outside, wondering what to do with this situation that made him very uncomfortable.

"Lieke," he once more asked for his friend's complete attention, "if you ever see that woman, be careful, will you?"

3

The monumental double doors of ancient wood creaked as the high priest led Prince Zedekiah into the temple. This sanctuary, nested in the outskirts of Castle Town, was the largest in all of Hyrule, designed to receive as much of the population as possible for important events, such as coronations. As the sun set on the town, the towering insides of the temple were slowly flooded by shadows. Zedekiah was not used to see it empty and still. Outside of public celebrations, he mostly prayed in the private sanctuary in the inner court of the castle.

"I believe you'll find everything you need, your Highness," the sheikah priest bowed affably, his short ponytail of silvery hair shining in the shadows.

"I won't be needing much. Thank you, Impé," the boy smiled back.

He liked the priest like a father, having never really known his own. The poor king had died soon after the birth of his heir. But Impé had not hesitated to give the boy way more than was required of him as a simple priest. As he had done with Lieke, the orphan he had raised as his own daughter. More than teaching the prince prayers and incantations, Impé had always lent time, ear, protection. Zedekiah's mother might be loving under her stern looks, yet she still had an entire kingdom to rule by herself.

But for now, the loyal priest could not assist the young man in the task he had to perform, and the latter was left all alone.

4

 _Forger in the highest mountains, may thy strength shape the lands so that they will ever provide. Juror in the earth, may thy courage bless our kingdom with righteous justice and the renewal of life. Keeper in the waters, may thy knowledge bring order to both what is animated and what is not. God of all gods, Father of all things, may thou find pride in –_

Prince Zedekiah interrupted the string of prose endlessly repeated in his head since dusk. The sound of his many jewels of gold tinkling against one another echoed in the vast and silent space surrounding him as he observed it. He could not see very well beyond the chancel lit with countless candles, even if dawn was basking the nave in dim lilac light, but he felt it. The presence in the temple. He was not alone.

But it was not a threatening presence. Zedekiah felt its warmth and softness press against his heart fleetingly and immediately recognized it.

"What are you doing here?" he whispered in the dark. "We could be in serious trouble if someone caught us."

Somehow, his tone wasn't disapproving or anxious. It was the tone used to reprimand an incorrigible yet adorable puppy who just wouldn't stay behind. The ashen mane of Lieke, framed by the pointy hood of her green surcoat emerged between two rows of benches. Beneath the surcoat, she wore the farm's usual brown long-sleeved dress.

"You just helped me so much recently, I thought I'd check if I could do anything for you," she stood awkwardly in the aisle.

The prince only studied her in silence, actually wondering if there was anything she could do. The adventurous girl had grown up in this temple, exploring its every corner and executing many chores as her father tended to his tasks. She evidently knew how to slip in and out undetected, even with all main entrances locked as they presently were.

"I could just stay with you," she suggested. "I promise I wouldn't disturb you. I'd be as silent as a grave!"

Indeed, his friend, despite her occasional witty remarks, was not the talkative type. Yet after a moment of silence, she added half-heartedly: "I brought a book."

A smile twisted the corner of Zedekiah's mouth against his will. Who was he kidding? His first night in this immense temple, its towering ceilings echoing every sound in the dark, and the demons of a restless mind whispering in his ear, had been unsettling to say the least.

"I'd like that," he agreed. "Thank you, Lieke."

5

This was the most boring day of Lieke's life—and she had known plenty boring days in her youth in this exact temple. As she didn't want to disturb her friend's prayers, she had refrained from wandering through the immense sanctuary in search of a distraction, which officially made this the longest day she ever spent here.

She eyed her unflappable companion, still praying away. His kneeling silhouette was much brighter than it was yesterday, wrapped in his princely apparel: a surcoat of royal magenta decorated with his family's crest rested on a white tunic with two blue stripes running along its edges. A circlet, necklace, belt, epaulettes and large bracelets of gold and rubies made his royal appurtenance undeniable.

She shifted in her uncomfortable seat at a row bench, returning to 'The Compendium of Hyrule's Noble Houses'. There were so many things that royal knights needed to know which seemed completely futile to her. Zedekiah seemed certain that displaying a strong basic knowledge would increase the odds of finding a mentor who would take Lieke as their squire. And she was not about to question his wisdom in the matter.

"I am exhausted," she finally heard her friend exhale by the end of the day.

He turned away from the imposing effigy of the god of all gods, offering her a tired smile. Lieke's stomach responded with an indignant growl.

"And famished as well," he laughed, his crystalline voice echoing softly around them.

"I'll fetch you some food," the girl offered, immediately getting to her feet.

Stretching her legs would be a more than welcome distraction.

"I daresay the gods don't mind me bending the rules slightly by letting you in, talking two sentences in a day or sleeping for a few hours, but eating would be downright cheating," he replied.

Lieke suspiciously eyed the large stone statue, with its spread wings and resting face fixed in a neutral yet benevolent looking expression.

"Look at him and those chubby cheeks, he's clearly just as much of a cheater as all of us," she waved a dismissing hand.

Zedekiah's shocked expression twisted Lieke's empty stomach. Surely the gods could recognize a harmless joke, couldn't they?

"I could refuse tonight's meal in repentance, but if I don't show up for supper, Father is going to turn suspicious," the priest's daughter shifted guiltily. "You're sure I can't bring you anything from the exciting world of the living?"

The prince shook his head, yet she noticed the simper he was trying to hide. He turned his face away, gazing through one of the stained-glass windows. The setting sun projected its iridescent colors on his face and pale hair.

"I wish you didn't have to go," he declared.

6

Later that night, the thought would occur to Prince Zedekiah that he had brought all of it on himself by speaking those words, and he would regret them bitterly. But at first, he didn't regard the keese as the gods answer to his wish.

As if reacting on cue to his last sentence in a theater play, what the boy first took for a stray bat spurted just above their heads, leaving a trail of echoing ultrasounds behind it. The two adolescents started, ducking to avoid any collision.

"I didn't know there were bats in here," the prince said as Lieke quickly joined him on the chancel, eyes searching for the creature across the dim ceiling.

"I don't think this was an ordinary bat," his friend answered.

It amazed Zedekiah how the easygoing farmgirl could switch into action mode at the slightest alarm. As he squinted to better see the screeching creature, it abruptly changed its course and charged at them. Its small size and great speed made it hard to distinguish, and it was past them before the young man heard Lieke letting out a short cry of pain.

"What happened?" he asked in confusion. "Did it hurt you?"

But Lieke gave no answer, all of her attention riveted to the whirling beast. Her gaze then swiftly swept their surroundings, before landing on an extinguished torch propped against the brick wall leading to the basement.

She reached it in a few hurried steps and swiftly returned to her friend.

"Stay back," she told him, brandishing the improvised staff.

The bat was back, swooping down on them with unmistakable purpose, steering away from the menacing torch at the last second.

This situation was starting to unnerve Zedekiah. Sleeping with bats hanging upside-down to his ceiling was one thing, but having them attacking him changed his perspective of the night to come.

Finally, the beast came again, a mere flash of shadow in the penumbra, only to be met by a mighty torch blow. It spread to the floor, inert.

The two friends glanced at each other, only now realizing that they had forgotten to breathe for a short while. Inhaling sharply, Lieke crouched over the recumbent creature whose broken wings lay at odd angles to its side. Zedekiah curiously followed.

It was no bat. Bats didn't have barbed mandibles. Nor did they have vicious raptor talons at their wings. Or enormous protruding eyes. The aura around its limp body was what shocked Zedekiah the most. It was the second time he felt it. There was a maleficent power emanating from it, even if very faintly. And it filled his heart with dread.

Lieke's hand extended to probe the dead creature, but before his friend could hold her back, the little body disappeared in a burst of violet smoke, making them both jump. They stared at the floor a few moments, too surprised to register this strange event.

Then Lieke's gaze slowly turned towards her arm, where the creature's talon had cut through the brown sleeve. She gently touched the small cut and inspected her bloodstained finger.

"Are you alright?" Zedekiah enquired.

"Yes," she answered, before adding: "That thing was in one of your books. The one about the dark eras."

The prince gulped, his throat feeling uncomfortably tight.

"It was," he agreed.

"It's called a keese, isn't it?" she asked.

"I believe so."

Shaken by this strange encounter, the friends stood silently, wondering what to make of it. Lieke was observing the temple with a reproachful glare, as if that would guilt it into providing answers.

"Where did it come from?" she finally asked.

Even if she was staring at the archway where she had grabbed the torch, which she still held in a hand whose knuckles were turning white, Zedekiah assumed the question was directed at him rather than the temple.

"I-I think it was that way," he stammered.

Lieke walked up to the archway and peered into the darkness that stood on the other side.

"What if there are more?" she wondered.

As Zedekiah didn't know what to say, he kept silent.

"I'll go check it out," she decided. "So you can pray in peace."

"Are you serious?" he heard himself reply without thinking. "Praying just fell all the way down the priority list. I'm coming with you."

7

A spiral staircase let to the basement. The torch, which Lieke had lit using the candles at the foot of the God's effigy, sent a dancing sunset-colored light against the brick walls. She knew where it led; remembered the cold and dampness that awaited them in the temple's basement.

She stepped flame first into the underground, ready to greet the horde of keese that might be lurking under its low ceiling. But the place was as deserted as it always was. The wooden doors to the few rooms it housed, such as the cellar for potion making, were closed. She strode across the long corridor, when she felt something indescribable. It was like… a distant calling. Something was calling her. No, not exactly. It came from within herself, guiding her. And at the same time, it was out there.

Maybe she should have found this unnatural and frightening. Instead, it reassured her; gave her courage.

"This way," she told the prince who walked more slowly, having no previous knowledge of those labyrinthine corridors to guide him in the darkness.

He complied without a word. They walked along a few corridors, stopping at intersections as Lieke fathomed her omniscient guide for the right way. Sometimes they heard the echoing chirpings and flapping winds of other keese, but fortunately didn't encounter any.

The girl stopped in front of an entrance through the brick wall, behind which awaited descending stairs. This was never here, she was certain of it. The calling felt stronger, vibrating in the air with the perfect frequency of a diapason.

She eyed her companion, wondering if he could feel it too. He seemed anxious and alert. She nodded to him in encouragement, indicating the hidden staircase they had stumbled upon, and went through it.

A vast wall carved in stone awaited at the bottom, engraved in an ancient sheikah dialect which Lieke didn't understand. Her father, she thought disappointedly, probably knew it. At the heart of the wall was a door of stone which had been slid to the side, either by magic or surhylian force, revealing a dark entrance.

"Lieke." Zedekiah grabbed her gently and pointed at their feet.

There, in the orange halo of the torch's flame, was a symbol carved in the floor. A geometrical bird, wings, talons and tail spread, beak towards the sky. Lodged between wings and beak was a triangle, made of three smaller ones.

"This is my family's crest," the prince said.

Lieke's gaze went from the carving at their feet to the painting on Zedekiah's surcoat; the resemblance was undeniable.

"Do you know what this place is?" she asked him.

"No," he replied barely loud enough for her to hear.

She tried to put up a confident smile for him.

"Then let's find out."

8

A room too large for the torch's glow to reveal its true depth awaited on the other side of the entrance. A canal of shallow still water spread between neat rows of paved pathways.

Zedekiah followed his friend on the path along the wall to their right. He let his fingers trace the ancient runes endlessly carved in the walls. How mysterious. Never had he heard of a site relating to the royal family beneath the Temple of All Gods. Those runes were proof that the place was old. Older than the dark eras, which had all but wiped the sheikah race from the mortal world. Apart from Impé, last survivor of a long line of sheikah priests having endured for centuries after the dark eras, Zedekiah had never met another living member of that clan whose historical purpose had been to watch over the royal family.

However, curiosity was not the prince's only feeling towards the place. _Dread_ was much stronger. The nearer they had gotten to this lost royal site, the stronger the aura of corruption he had first felt with the veiled woman, and then with the keese, had become. Now, he was bathing in it; every breath he drew was filled with nefarious energy. The place reeked of it. Especially the water. He didn't trust it for one second. He felt vulnerable without any means of defense and found himself wishing for his bow and arrows. Zedekiah was no great warrior, being more of a pacifist, but he did master the noble art of archery.

After walking for a few moments along the right side of the room, they were met with another canal of water too large to leap over, and the path crooked to the left, sending them back towards the middle. A dark, immobile shape stood across the way in the distance, just near enough for the light of the torch to reveal it, making the teenagers recoil in surprise.

"What is this?" Zedekiah whispered in his friend's ear.

As if triggered by the faint sound, the undistinguishable shape started to move slowly, almost imperceptibly, as though turning on itself. Its movement seemed to freeze everything around it; the air that entered Zedekiah's lungs was biting, so much so that his very heart felt numb. As he exhaled, whirls of white fumes exited his mouth.

The thing started approaching. As it got closer to the light, its humanoid shape became clearer; it was a mummified corpse. A walking corpse.

"Lieke, let's go," the prince ordered, no longer bothering to keep his tone low for stealth's sake.

The girl seemed as frozen as he was by the atmosphere around the creature, but she finally took a step back. Not fast enough, however, as the most horrifying sound Zedekiah had ever heard tore through his very soul. Or the sound was that of his soul screaming for mercy. He fell to his knees, no longer the master of his own body.

The corpse marched on, now only a few feet away. The life inhabiting the two young hylians seemed to slowly leave them, sucked away by those hollow orbits and mouth.

But Lieke abruptly snapped back to reality, splitting the air in front of her with her flaming torch, uttering a menacing cry. The flames licked the creature's dry brown skin, without eliciting the slightest reaction from the latter. It merely kept marching forward, followed by the sickening odor of burnt skin.

Lieke changed technique, thumping the petrifying face with the torch. The corpse stumbled back, but immediately recovered and steadily advanced on its prey. Before she could repeat her attack however, the bloodcurdling sound tore the air once more.

Zedekiah watched, powerless, as his friend's will faltered, leaving her defenseless in front of the terrible monster. Its evil aura alone was enough to rivet him to the ground; its cry beat down on the nail.

And then, the corpse jumped on Lieke, wrapping its skeletal limbs around her body, making them both fall across the canal of putrid water.

It was in that moment that Prince Zedekiah realized that he himself had been the spark that had triggered this chain of terrifying events. He had wished for his friend to stay with him. His wish had been granted in a most ironic way when that keese had shown up, like an omen of the dark world that had been unleashed beneath their feet. Would all of this have happened, had he kept his mouth shut?

He could not lose his best friend because of some selfish yearning. He could not be the cause of her demise. He would not allow it.

The young royal hylian slowly returned on his feet, filled with a feeling of purpose and righteousness coursing from his heart to the very end of all his extremities. He would send that vicious creature back to the realm of malice it crept out from if it was the last thing he did.

Without thinking, he motioned the drawing out of a bow with one hand, and of an arrow with the other, before gesturing the bending of the bow. Only it was more than a gesture, as he found himself pulling with all his might. A blazing light of the purest white emanated from his extended arm, but Zedekiah did not let it distract him; he had eyes for only one thing. The abomination wrapped around Lieke's paralyzed body.

The moment the corpse's atrocious head was away from the girl's, it found itself pierced at close range by the blinding arrow of divine sentence. The redead had reunited with death, ultimately.

9

The living dead had fallen limp, and suddenly the cold that had settled in her mind and body disappeared, leaving Lieke lying unfettered in the shallow water that burnt her like acid. She struggled incoherently to get away from it, uncertain of her surroundings in the darkness. Her torch had gone out in the water. Yet there was another source of light, pure and glaring.

Out of it came a hand that grabbed her surcoat and lifted her away from the dangerous water.

"Lieke! Lieke, talk to me. Are you alright?" Zedekiah exclaimed anxiously, patting her arms and inspecting her closely.

Even though her whole body shook from her fresh altercation with a _living dead_ , and her skin still prickled where the water had touched it, she felt surprisingly fine. This was undeniably the craziest, most dangerous thing that had ever happened to her, but now that they were both safe again, she actually felt like laughing. Perhaps it was the relief.

"I'm good," she exhaled, dismissing her friend's scrutiny with one hand.

The prince sighed shakily, taking a step back to let his anxiety out.

"Gods all mighty," he murmured, quickly touching his forehead, heart and core as one did to appeal to the three gods' mercy. "What living nightmare is this?"

He didn't seem to be addressing her, not really, so Lieke kept silent as her friend breathed deeply and stared into the darkness towards where the entrance probably stood.

It was then that she realized what the bright light's source was. On the floor lay an object so refined, Lieke was certain no hylian, sheikah or even zora could have crafted it. It was a bow. A bow that seemed alive with the pulse of light coursing along its elegantly sculpted arc.

If the apparition of foul creatures whose only record of existence dated of so long ago that people thought of them as myths, or the existence of a secret entrance to a site Lieke could only describe as a royal tomb had not convinced the farmgirl of the seriousness of their situation, that bow did. This was the weapon wielded by the Prince who Vanquished the Night—the weapon that, in the hand of its appointed master on earth, had seen the dark era to an end.

Lieke lifted her gaze back to the young man standing in front of her, realizing the depth of the gulf separating their situation. As his stunning blue eyes met hers, she bowed her head and stooped to one knee.

"What are you doing?" Zedekiah demanded. "Get up."

"You were chosen by the gods," she simply replied, glancing at the bow between them.

The prince felt silent. He bent to pick up the ethereal object, took a step forward, and kneeled in front of her.

"The gods sent me this bow to save you," he told her, and she couldn't resist tilting her face up to look at him. "Let us not waste time debating over who the gods truly chose. I believe we still have a tomb to explore."

10

No more horrifying manifestations of the dark world came to haunt them after that life-threatening experience. Lieke however did not realize nor experience the terrible oppression that her companion felt as he walked these cursed grounds. On the contrary, if she had to describe what she felt as she followed her inner compass, she would have chosen the inexplicable yet irresistible attraction between star-crossed lovers in the novels. Something was calling for her, and her for it. And she was almost there.

Using the generous glow of the bow to guide their steps, they passed a second archway, exiting the room of engraved walls and tortuous paths.

This new room seemed really deep. Lieke noted with relief the absence of toxic water. The walls on both sides were lined with sarcophaguses, each of them marked with the royal seal. Zedekiah's scientific mind seemed to take over his mistrust of the place, as he strode to the nearest coffin.

"Extraordinary," he whispered in awe, as if suddenly feeling the need to lower his voice in respect for the dead.

Lieke approached, quite undesirous of dawdling over dead people when she was so close to her calling.

"All my family has been buried in the castle's cemetery for centuries," Zedekiah told her softly. "I wonder who these people were. I always wondered why Tetius the Gifted's body was nowhere to be found, perhaps it is here! He lived hundreds of years ago, maybe he was one of the last ones to be buried here. That would be some genealogical mystery solved, that it would be!"

The young prince excitedly moved up the alley, lightening the carved inscriptions with his bow, followed by a reluctant Lieke.

However, as they advanced, his enthusiasm slowly disappeared, giving way to a hesitant, then outright fearful attitude. Staring ahead, he looked so horrified that her friend actually wondered if there was another redead she hadn't spotted yet. Stepping in front of him, she squinted. There was something alright. Something whose glossy surface reflected the bow's divine light. This was the object of her calling, she was certain of it.

She inclined towards it, but was intercepted by Zedekiah's firm grasp.

"Don't," he whispered; a whisper of terror rather than respect this time. "There is some great evil at work here."

Lieke frowned, eyeing the bright shape standing not so far away. There were violet fumes, much like the one they had seen when the keese had returned to its dark world, and probably like those she had missed in her confusion when the redead had disappeared. The fumes seemed to leak from the base of the object she desperately wanted to get to.

"I need to," she replied, with a finality in her tone she didn't remember ever using.

The young prince said nothing, but the girl didn't miss the bow shifting in his hands from a makeshift torch to a ready weapon. Alone, she walked the distance separating her from what turned out to be a glorious pedestal. Stabbed through its stone heart stood a sword, whose purple guard spread its wings exactly like the bird on Zedekiah's surcoat. It seemed untouched by the centuries that had eroded this place—a beacon of eternal youth and innocence enduring amongst the dead. Lieke's eyes followed its immaculate blade from the delicate trinity symbol engraved at its base to the invisible tip buried in the pedestal. There, the stone was cracked, giving birth to the violet fumes.

No hylian child grew up without knowing this sword. Like every other kid, the nights of Lieke's youth had been filled with dreams of epic adventures where she held it. The Blade of Legend. The Pillar to the Skies. The Blade that seals away the Darkness. The Master Sword. Its names were numerous, all more heroic than the last.

It was said that only the Hero of Legend could hold it. That its mere power was enough to kill the unworthy that would dare lift it.

But Lieke didn't think about that. She didn't need to think, guided by the force that had took over her. When she laid her hand on the handle, she felt a sudden surge of purpose fill her, like a violent gust sweeping her insides, alleviating her soul. The wind blew upwards, joining its strength to hers as she dislodged the large sword from its pedestal. Somehow, even though it should have been a remarkably heavy piece of metal, holding it seemed to lighten her steps as she turned back to her friend, wild locks of hair settling back on each side of her face.

Zedekiah's large blue eyes were wide open, his fair eyebrows lifted in amazement, his combed hair ruffled by an unworldly breeze. Before he could find words to express himself however, the sound of slowly clapping hands echoed in the dark crypt.

"Bravo," a deep, guttural voice spoke, rolling the 'r' on their tongue in a very unhylian fashion. "I am thoroughly impressed."

A monstrous woman, two times as tall as the two young hylians, stepped from the darkness, appearing behind the prince. Before the boy could do anything, he found himself lifted off the ground, held by the throat against the wall. The Bow of Light fell to the floor, basking the scene from under in a disturbing light.

It was her, Lieke was certain. The woman Zedekiah had warned her about; everything about her reeked of malevolence. Only she wasn't veiled anymore. Her red hair cascaded freely in her back, sent backwards by a bloodcurdling headband of golden thorns. Her powerful muscles rolled under impressive armor pieces of thick dark leather. She had the typical straight nose bridge of the Gerudo. Yet, her eyes were enough to recognize her. Yellow eyes that would roast you to a crisp if they had the power to do so.

"Look at you. You are little more than a baby," the woman addressed the girl, speaking evenly yet with visceral disdain. "And you have managed to do what I couldn't, in a mere second!"

As Zedekiah vainly struggled to free his crushed neck, the woman merely laughed lowly—a laugh devoid of any joy.

"Now, hand me the sword, girl. If you want your little friend to live."

Lieke glanced anxiously at the boy; between erratic gulping and gasping, his head swayed ever so slightly left and right, eying her intently. The friends had reached the same conclusion: that woman had no intention of letting either of them survive, and whatever her intentions were for the sacred object, they were no good. Their only chance was confrontation.

"No," she heard herself reply, hand shaking on the Master Sword's handle.

The Gerudo smiled, as if she had been hoping for this. Without warning, she conjured a crystalline barrier which trapped Zedekiah where he stood, leaving her free to advance on Lieke. The prince desperately banged his fists against its magic captor, to no avail.

"No one has survived a confrontation with Ganondra, the Great Desert Queen, but I'll let you take your chances," she said.

With each step the queen took, Lieke saw her mind rushing even more furiously to find a course of action in which they stood the slightest chance.

Ganondra raised a hand crackling with dark energy. She released it full force at the hylian girl. The latter, having no shield to parry the blow, hid behind the sword as a last resort. And it worked: the sparkling ball of dark matter returned whence it came.

The queen, somewhat surprised by the reflexes of the farmgirl, nevertheless easily deflected the hex, which crashed into a wall, leaving a smoking hole in its stone. This gave Lieke an idea.

She rolled to the side and sprinted away from the incoming foe. Gonondra would have to attack her at a distance, and she did, sending another ball of energy her way. This time, Lieke was ready: she awaited the projectile, and smashed it with her sword, sending it towards her friend's prison.

The crystal burst to pieces, and Zedekiah fell to the ground, landing on his bow.

"You are a witty one, I'll give you that. No matter, crushing two insects is no harder than crushing one."

Before she could take a step towards them however, Hyurle's prince had returned to his feet, arrow drawn and pointed at the giant woman's heart.

"Abandon your dark quest, Desert Queen, and I will let you return to your lair unarmed."

The queen's sinister laughter echoed against the tomb's walls. Smiling menacingly, she advanced on the two adolescents. But Zedekiah's heart was unshaken by her audaciousness.

The arrow of light flew true, with such velocity that Lieke barely understood what had happened. But Ganondra had no problem catching the projectile with a lightning fast hand. She tutted at the prince with reproachful, toying eyes. Her gaze however quickly turned to the relic in her hand, and an expression of pain contorted her features.

She threw the arrow to the floor, massaging the hand that had held it with anger. Dark energy crackled weakly in her wounded palm, then fainted.

With an enraged roar, she summoned her foul hex of her other hand and hurled it towards the prince. Lieke stepped in front of her friend, sword at the ready, and sent the curse back towards the queen.

The latter swiftly parried the attack, and the ball of dark matter was once more heading their way. Deciding that this exchange was futile, the girl sent it at their foe's feet, where just near enough for the woman to try and recover the projectile.

As the latter did, Lieke lost no time turning to her friend, exchanging a vital whisper.

"Get her other hand. She will have no choice but to retreat."

The boy nodded, and Lieke's determined gaze was on their enemy again. Predictably enough, the Gerudo woman attacked again, outstretching her valid hand as she did.

Lieke exhaled in preparation for her feat; their timing had to be perfect, and she would offer her prince the protection he needed while he waited for his opening. She could not fail.

And the exchange began. Hit after hit, neither her nor the sorceress's address wavered. The hex seemed to feed from their foe's dark magic each time it returned to her, growing in size and force. Lieke's every muscle were screaming for relief, her breath was short, her heartbeat fast, her lungs burning. But she kept pushing harder, and harder.

Until Ganondra's pained holler echoed through the tomb—sign that Zedekiah had hit his mark.

Focused on the dangerous hex, Lieke resisted looking, and delivered an ultimate blow with all of the force left in her at the curse. Its wild course finally came to an end as it collided with the large evil woman.

As if hit by a lightning bolt, she convulsed before falling to the ground on her hands—one of which was pierced by an arrow of celestial light.

The two friends watched in shock as the Great Desert Queen howled in her throes, consumed in what seemed to be black flames. Her armor withered, her flesh disappeared from her bones, her figure ascended slowly as if claimed by divine justice, and she vanished.

And this was all that Lieke's food-deprived body could endure before letting her consciousness slip away.

11

As the sun set for a third time on the impressive Temple of All Gods, Impé was walking up the grand staircase leading to the towering entrance doors. His mind was distracted by the worry his daughter was bringing him—Lieke had not come home last night. No one had seen her at the parsonage's farm yesterday. Yet, it was not the first time this happened. The impetuous girl had lived more adventures than most men twice her age.

And Impé had a feeling he knew where he would find her. Oh, he knew about the visitor that often sneaked in his humble dwelling in the evening.

Nightingales sang in the chestnut trees lined on each side of the building. The priest rejoiced in their melodious cries; everything was quiet. Peaceful. The prince would be happy to walk the town's street, finally breathing some free air after his Allgodhayz cloistering.

The man held out a frail hand holding the large key to the temple and unlocked the heavy wooden door. As he stepped in the dim sanctuary, his eyes slowly adjusted to the change in lightening.

The chancel was bathed in the soft glow of countless candles—most of them gone out, drowned in their own melted wax. Impé's chest swelled with warm relief as he stumbled upon the sleeping shapes of the prince… and his own daughter, nested in the middle of this protective halo of light. Their breaths lifted their ribs in the slow, rhythmic tide of extenuated slumber. Both of the adolescent's blonde hair—gold as the sun for him, dark as freshly turned earth for her—were scattered across the floor, looking ruffled and uncleaned. The relaxed fingers of the young farmgirl rested against those of the prince, their indexes almost intertwined, as if they had fallen asleep holding hands, or praying.

The high priest's benevolent smile however disappeared as his gaze fell upon the two artefacts lying in the grasp of his young protégés. The Bow of Light. The Blade of Legend.

The challenges that must have befallen those two adolescents he loved more than his own life for them to come into possession of such sacred objects didn't scare the old man as much as the inescapable destiny that laid ahead of them.


	2. The Prince and the Knight

Author's notes: This is a short addition, based on ObeliskX's request. Feel free to give me writing prompts if you'd like other short stories in this genderbent AU. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this weird story of mine!

* * *

The Legend of Zedekiah

The Prince and the Knight

1

Lieke breathed in the brisk air of winter, perched on her gentle steed. The young woman still couldn't explain to herself how she got the tall silver bay stallion to let her ride him. No one had been able to get near that horse; Talon, the breeder of this wild specimen, had indeed been worried she'd never find a buyer for him. The first time Lieke had visited the ranch—she was finally allowed to travel outside of the town's limit since she had begun her training—Talon had found her casually stroking the young horse's white mane as she waited near the paddocks. The middle-aged woman's stuttering stupor had caused her redheaded son, Malon, to laugh openly. Lieke had instantly liked the ranch owner's good-natured son. She even thought she might have seen him at the town's market occasionally in their youth.

Things had moved so fast since that fateful night when Lieke and her friend Zedekiah had found two divine relics in the bowels of the Temple of All Gods. More than a year later, she exited the ranch as she had done countless times since, riding across the vast fields on the silver bay horse she had called Belenos. Being chosen by the Gods had of course been an inestimable help to her no longer secret objective of becoming a knight; being allotted this impressive horse was only one of the many perks of her new life.

Yet the novice knight sighed under the peeking moon, satisfied that at least some of her desires still remained secret. She allowed her gaze to drop to her hands, where she knew a trinity symbol shone under her warm glove. It had appeared when she had awakened at Zedekiah's side in the temple. The young man had one too. It had been too long since Lieke had last seen him.

Lieke's gaze returned up, piercing through the night to sweep Hyrule's fields. Other things—bad things—had followed her adventure within the temple. The Seal had been broken. Hyrulians, mostly ones living in remote regions, had begun sighting strange creatures. Creatures that belonged to the dark eras. Monsters.

Lieke had come face to face with monsters a few times. Still, they were pretty rare this close to the castle. That particular night, the fields were still and soundless, except for the beating of Belenos' hoofs in the deep coat of snow.

And except for a slender, dark silhouette in the distance, apparently rummaging through a tree grove. The young woman halted her mount. Whirls of fumes raised from Belenos, warming Lieke.

The silhouette rose to its full height and graciously slipped between the trees. As it did, Lieke caught a glimpse of reflected moonlight, as it would do on a metallic object. Feeling her numb lips fight the cold to curl into a smile, she spurred Belenos towards the tree grove.

2

Zedekiah was confident that he would finally find one that night. A rare moon-tear-drop. He had searched for this mythical flower, among other things, all his life. It was bad enough when he was younger and only needed to escape his room unnoticed, on a full moon, and brave the cold winter. Now, with monsters being sighted more and more through his kingdom, it had become quite the challenge to elude the tightened security around Castle Town.

Zedekiah was a responsible young man, who understood the gravity of the situation, and the importance of his role in a near future—perhaps more than anyone, as he was riddled with regular nightmarish visions. But he was also a thoroughly independent being, who would not be kept away from his objectives. He was positive he knew how to keep himself out of any real danger.

He fluidly crouched at the base of one of the trees, examining a hole in the otherwise even layer of snow covering the ground. He ungloved his hand, delicately laying a finger at the bottom of the hole. The earth was definitely warmer there. He felt his heart beat faster with excitement—he'd never been this close.

Then his gaze fell on the symbol carved on his hand, glowing softly in the night with ethereal light, and Zedekiah was seized by an unexpected wave of wistfulness. Over a year had passed since that night in the Temple, and although he was glad that his friend had seen her wish of knighthood absurdly expedited by those events, he sometimes wished things could have stayed the way they were before. As the months passed, the two friends had seen less and less of each other. His secretive lessons were not required anymore—Lieke had a real mentor now. At first, it seemed she barely had time for anything else than train, but that had slowly transition to her actual state of always being out on some mission or other. When they did see each other, their encounters were now wrapped in protocol and decorum. She was the Hero, and he was the Prince. It was selfish, but Zedekiah missed his old friend; the farmgirl who was so carefree and… present.

So the young prince kept himself busy. He actually had quite an elaborate scheme in place for his escapades. His mother didn't exactly disapprove of his academic hobbies, but she did when they came in the way of his devotion to the gods, or of his safety. He had thus found a way to keep safe, and pious (the repentant prayer sessions upon returning from his expeditions significantly shortened his sleeping time).

The sound of hooves falling through the deep snow made Zedekiah start, and he swiftly glanced towards the noise, tightening his disguise across his face. He disappeared behind a tree, waiting for the rider to have gone past his hideout.

When the night was silent again, Zedekiah risked a glance towards the road. Nothing. As he turned back to the small hole he had found in the snow, he felt his excitement return. He knew he would get that flower to show itself tonight. He crouched near the hole in the snow above its hidden roots and reached for the lyre he carried on his back. The instrument was lightweight and played softly: perfect for his stealthy mission. His cold fingers strum the cords with automatism, his mind totally absent from the process. He had practiced this song so often, he could have played it in his sleep. He was fairly certain he had found the right notes to lure the flower out.

But Zedekiah was interrupted by a warm breeze inside his chest, informing him of the presence that was getting near him. He smiled despite himself, yet he forced his face back to impassivity. The familiar voice in his back did not startle him one bit.

"Being disguised as a woman won't stop the monsters from attacking you, you know."

3

Lieke couldn't help the smirk she wore. She had heard the rumors of a witch strolling through the fields disguised as a young woman. People called her 'the sheikah', because of the way she blended in the shadows. Lieke would have almost believed them, had she not spotted the lyre on the woman's back, reflecting the moonlight. She only knew one person who owned such a sacred instrument.

As she had listened to the delicate—almost intimate—sounds of the lyre, Lieke had almost decided to return to her horse as silently as she had crept up through the grove. Almost. But Lieke never was one to fear, or even be aware of uncomfortable encounters.

Despite the hooded cape and the elegant dark purple scarf of unmistakably feminine fashion, the person who rose to their feet at the sound of Lieke's voice was definitely the young man she had expected. She would recognize those blue eyes in any disguise.

"Monsters lack your furtiveness," he replied, and his lips finally stretched in a stiff smile.

"Assassins then," Lieke shrugged.

"Assassins? Please," Zedekiah waved his hand dismissively. "How did you even know it was me?"

"Incredible instincts," she smiled teasingly. Under her childhood friend's skeptical gaze, she added, "I recognized your lyre."

As she watched her friend roll his eyes, Lieke wondered if he really could have grown since they last saw each other, or if she had simply forgotten that she never was the tallest of the two. He always had a noble (quite handsome) face, but on that winter night, his stance was positively regal, dressed as a woman or not.

"It lets me go where I please," he said with a final tone, as if daring her to tease his disguise. He rearranged the strap on his shoulder to hide the lyre under his cape. Lieke didn't miss the glimmer of the divine bow carefully hidden there as well. More softly, he added, "What are you doing here?"

"I just came from my night patrol around the ranch. Monsters are getting bold. They've started trying to steal young foals when the owners are asleep."

Zedekiah merely blinked. "I wouldn't want to get in the way of your duty. You should get back to it."

"What? No, I'm done for now. And I want to see you," she smiled at him with candor. She may have been the initiator most of the time, but Zedekiah had never frowned upon bending the rules with her—to a certain extent. She hesitated before adding, "I miss our lessons."

The tall prince observed her in silence for a moment, and in that moment, the young knight felt her infallible trust in their friendship waver ever so slightly. In that moment, she caught a glimpse of the deep shame threatening to engulf her should she have misinterpreted their relationship.

But then he returned her smile, and she felt hers widen.

"I miss them too," he said.

Lieke could only keep grinning, not really sure what to say. Zedekiah's rigid posture relaxed as he beamed back at her. A relieved chuckle escaped her. He did the same.

4

Feeling pushed forward by a gust of comfortable familiarity, Zedekiah stopped himself just in time not to throw himself into the young woman's arms. He hadn't seen her for a few weeks, and then when his knight-in-shining-armor showed up and told him four words he wanted to hear, it was enough to make him loose his head? That was very unlike him.

In his defense, she really _was_ an impressive sight, clad in the Hero's colors, already wielding that legendary sword with effortless grace, her long ashen plait loosen by the exercise. Her dark eyes set, focused, purposeful. Her cheeks colored by the cold, the ride, the emotions.

In comparison, Zedekiah felt rather immature. Carefree, playful farmgirl Lieke had never seemed older than the wise prince, even if she was. But Lady Lieke, Hyrule's beacon of light against Malice, looked much older than the nineteen-year-old she truly was.

"What did you have in mind?" he managed to ask her with satisfying dignity. He knew Lieke always had some mischievous idea planned ahead.

"How about I show you?" she grinned.

He kept silent, raising one curious brow in a respectably princely manner.

"Come," she added excitedly, turning back towards the road.

Zedekiah complied a little too enthusiastically for his taste, leaving the stubborn moon-tear-drop still hiding underground, completely forgotten. A few strides took the two young hylians out of the tree grove and back to the road, where Belenos stood. The great stallion eyed the prince nervously, stomping the ground, as his mistress swung herself up his back.

"Come on up, it's a bit far to walk." She extended her hand for him.

The young man readily joined her, sitting behind her on the cramped saddle. His voluminous cape draped Belenos' large rear, bathing the prince in animal heat.

"Here we go," Lieke warned him before pushing their mount into an even canter.

Zedekiah didn't need to hold to her for support, easily following the horse's movement with his hips. He kept his hand where they belonged, firmly holding his cape against his thighs. He looked briefly at the ranch in the distance, where the young redheaded cattleman got to spend so much time with his childhood friend.

Lips tightening, he looked away, at the snow-covered fields. Instead of observing the landscape he knew too well, he found himself staring at Lieke's long plait. Or rather through it—they were so close, he couldn't really focus on her hair without straining his eyes. So close indeed, that he could smell its earthy scent. So close that he could feel the looser strains caressing his face.

Catching himself leaning into the touch, he swiftly arched his back in an almost military fashion, waiting for the sky to fall on his head, for the gods' wrath to strike him down where he stood. But nothing happened.

Belenos and his riders quickly reached the southern edge of the fields, where a thick forest spread. Lieke slowed down her horse, guiding him through the trees. After a few moments, they had reached a small clearing.

5

Lieke hopped off her horse and held the reins as Zedekiah followed, removing his hood and loosening his scarf. There were those golden locks she remembered, those pointy ears and that elegant jawline. She smiled at him as he took in the various beaten-up targets she had crafted around the clearing, either hanging from high tree branches or solidly planted in the ground.

"Welcome to my humble base," she proudly told him.

Instead of the delighted reply she expected, she received a confused look.

"Did you do all of this?"

"Yes," she simply answered. "I'm quite handy, you know."

This couldn't be a surprise to him, why did he look so flustered, she wondered.

"When did you find the time to do this?" Zedekiah frowned.

"I don't know, a few months ago?"

" _Months_?" he repeated. "Why is this the first I hear of this place?"

Had Lieke been a keener observer of body language, she would have noticed the air of betrayal on her oldest friend's face.

"I didn't think you'd care for it," she replied honestly. Zedekiah was a young man of brilliant intellect, what interest could he have in a homemade training ground? "But I need your help with something tonight."

The prince frowned at her. In response, she walked up to Belenos and extirpated a bow and a quiver from the many pouches and straps of the saddle. She returned, holding it out expectantly for him to see.

"I am a dreadful archer," she explained simply with a shy smile.

Again, the young man's posture slowly relaxed, as a simper crawled on his lips.

" _Hopeless_ would be a more accurate term, if I recall correctly," he replied.

"Don't get presumptuous, Zed," she warned, grinning.

He laughed openly. Gods, how long had it been since she heard that crystalline sound? Their lives had become so serious so fast.

He retrieved the bow from under his large cape, sweeping the fabric back to reveal a tight-fitting doublet and pants, wrapped in a feminine belt at the waist. If one didn't know him too well, this disguise could almost work, Lieke thought. Somehow, she didn't feel like making fun of him. The prince managed to be just as elegant in disguise as he usually was.

"Show me exactly how bad it is then," Zedekiah said.

Drawing an arrow from her quiver, she aimed at the nearest target. The full moon, reflecting on the snowy ground, provided enough lighting for the exercise. The arrow's tail brushed the wooden board as it flew just past it.

"I think this isn't beyond salvageable yet," her friend smiled. "Don't arch your lower back so much. Roll your hip under your upper body. Like so."

With that, he stood straight and shot an arrow of light at the border of the forest, with no particular destination.

"You didn't shoot at a target," Lieke grumbled in disappointment—she was looking forward to a demonstration of her friend's talent.

"If you don't improve your posture, you'll never hit those targets. If you keep missing those targets, you'll get too frustrated to improve your posture," he replied wisely. "Don't focus on targets, focus on your body. Just shoot towards the trees."

Lieke groaned slightly, but she obeyed.

"Better?" she asked as she bent the bow.

"Tuck your hips in a bit more. And lower your chest and ribs."

A few shots later, Lieke's whole body was burning from this static effort. Zedekiah had thrown in so many advices regarding her position, she felt like she was simply contracting every muscle in her body. She fetched her thrown arrows by the forest edge, grateful for the movement. As she jogged back to her tall friend, she eyed her targets longingly.

"I know you want to try it out on the targets," he said. "Go ahead."

Despite the young knight's confidence, her arrow flew just past the target. Knowing the disappointment must show in her eyes, she hid her gaze from her friend, who stayed silent.

Eyes still on the target, Lieke started as she felt Zedekiah's hand close around hers, raising her bow arm straight in front of her. Standing behind her, his other arm slipped on her other side, handing her one of his glimmering arrows, and guiding her to bend the bow. His cheek came to rest against hers as he took aim with her, directing her bow towards the target. The shivers running down her spine as she strived to stand straight had very little to do with the cold night.

He slowly let go of her arms, but kept his cold cheek on hers, never losing sight of their target, as she strained to keep her posture. She released her hook, letting the arrow fly straight at the target, sinking in it with a thud. A wide smile split her face.

"There, you just needed to _aim_ at the target," Zedekiah's voice teased her. "A little cheating never…" he trailed off as she turned her head his way, dropping the bow to her side.

Their faces were very close.

6

Zedekiah was not an idiot; even if he hadn't occasionally felt the warmth emanating from his friend's mind when she was with him, he would have noticed the way she looked at him. Indeed, Zedekiah was a wise hylian. But of the two friends, he was not the brave one. His mind was too occupied weighing every possible implication and outcome (couldn't she feel obliged to him, as he was her prince?) to consider ever letting his heart spring into action. He could only hope he hadn't inadvertently telepathically shared his thoughts with her, as he had willingly done to contact her for their secretive lessons, at nights that seemed so far away.

Unbeknownst to him, in that particular moment, Lieke's mind was—most unlike his—perfectly and happily empty. So it was that the Prince chosen by the gods to vanquish the Darkness watched, petrified, thoughts racing in his head, as the farmgirl who had become Hyrule's brightest hope confidently laid her lips on his. She had closed her keen eyes, and like a hatchling learning by imitation, he closed his.

As the light faded on the world as he knew it, a whole other world revealed itself to Zedekiah. One in which the terrible events promised by his visions were dismissively swept away, swapped for the delicious promise of a perfect destiny—for how could anything bad happen in a world where Lieke was present?

Perhaps the fact that he didn't shy away or push her away—even though he was too entranced to reply to her gesture—kindled her confidence, because the young woman slipped her arms under his cape, around his waist, and stepped closer. His heart hammered away, with excitement that made his earlier enthusiasm for a rare flower seem ludicrous. As far as the prince was concerned, it could have been the middle of a summer day. His warm winter clothes felt very superfluous.

Abandoning the lips that were sealed with disbelieving daze, Lieke let her own lips trail to his cheek, towards his ear, leaving a series of moist kisses for the frost to bite, each of them prompting a step back from the hylian man.

"Forger juror and keeper." The divine incantation unconsciously escaped Zedekiah in a hastened whisper.

Eyes still closed, he couldn't see his friend open hers as she spoke out of breath, "Have I... overstepped?"

Her words finally broke through the dense fog clouding the prince's enamored mind.

"Gods no."

It was all she needed to go from polite experimentation to open offensive. He stumbled backwards under her weight, finally landing back against a nearby tree. This time, as her lips met his, he responded in kind. Her arms had left his waist, climbing up to his neck, caressing the roots of his hair as she kissed his lips, again and again.

"I've missed you," he sighed as he came up for air. "Ardently."

She responded by tightening her hold on him, as if to assure him that she had no intention to disappear. Her thick surcoat was pressed against him, so forcefully that he could sense the forms of her powerful body under it. Her strong muscles gripping at him desperately. Her lower body swaying against his hips. Sweet gods in the three realms…

There was a quiet noise, like a tiny bell rattling softly. Faster than Zedekiah could register, Lieke was off him, the Blade of Legend unsheathed and at the ready. Glancing over her shoulder—wondering if he could have imagined everything that had just happened—Zedekiah looked at the cause of this abrupt interruption. In front of the two hylians stood a creature the young prince had only seen described in books.

It looked somewhat like a hylian child, a child whose pale skin would be made of a material similar to tree leaves. It didn't look either male nor female, dressed in a blend of moss, tree bark and bird feathers held together with sap. A hood framed an unsettling face with holes in the place of eyes or mouth. It was very still, observing them with a mix of curiosity and mistrust, holding a small wooden bell to its chest.

"Stand down," Zedekiah quickly instructed his knight. "This is a creature of the gods."

Lieke slowly let her guard down, keeping her sight resolutely on the strange creature. The prince beamed at the apparition, stooping down at his friend's side to level with the child.

"Hey there," he said softly, smiling at his own luck tonight. What a great fortuity it had been to abandon his search for a flower earlier. His dearest friend returning (most enthusiastically) to him, and now this.

The child started—making Lieke tense—and squealed adorably, "You can see me, mister?"

"Yes."

"But hylians don't see Fado!" it exclaimed shrilly.

The prince eyed his friend, who was observing the child with intensity as she crouched to their level.

"These two do," he smiled. "Did you want something, Fado?"

"Fado was passing when he saw two hylians in the forest. Fado doesn't like hylians, but the miss has a beautiful object on her, beautiful yes! It looks like the sword of the tall girl."

"What tall girl?" Lieke asked.

"The one who left the forest and grew up."

Lieke glanced at her knowledgeable friend, but Zedekiah didn't understand what that meant either. This split second of silence was enough to allow Fado to flood them with generous and irrelevant information, as children do.

"Fado doesn't come here usually, Fado was returning from the full moon celebration when he saw the blade of the tall girl, but Fado must return to his apple tree grove before the rooster cries, because he must protect the trees from the cold! Mido says that the wind will blow from the north this morning, so it will be cold."

"Before the rooster cries?" the prince—who was very much expected to be in his room when the footman would come to wake him up—repeated.

"Yes, the rooster will cry very soon."

"You should go then," Lieke said. "Go protect your trees."

"Yes!" it squealed, suddenly in great haste. "Bye miss tall girl, bye mister hylian."

The child began running towards the forest and the road beyond, before disappearing in front of their eyes in a whirlwind of leaves, its bell rattling away.

The two friends looked at each other, both astonished by this surreal encounter, and secretly wondering if the other felt the same way about the passionate moment it had interrupted.

"I must go," Zedekiah reluctantly broke the silence.

"Let me bring you nearer to town," she said. "It'll be faster on horseback."

She showed no signs of awkwardness or regret, nor excitement. Just plain composure. Coming from Lieke, he knew that was a good sign. They were soon back on Belenos, disguise back in place for the prince. As they parted ways at the tree groves where he had been searching for his flower, Zedekiah refused to let go of the hand that had steadied him as he dismounted.

Summoning his courage, he said, "I hope we can… practice archery again. Soon."

She grinned. "I'd love that."

Warmth spread through his chest.

"You know which window to tap on," she added.

She gave his hand a squeeze, and rode away.


	3. Desert of Fears

The Legend of Zedekiah

Desert of Fears

1

Hyrule had slipped into darker times than living memory could recall. Monsters had become a cruel reality for every civilian. Disreputable individuals took advantage of the ensuing chaos, turning it into a profit through criminal activities. Still, life as hylians and other beings of the light knew it went on. The walls of Castle Town held strong against the mindless minions of Malice. Mostly for the work of a single, heroic person.

Lieke was her name—and that name was on the lips of every hylian within miles of the capital city. She was brave, loyal, kindhearted and above all, tenacious. She was no more than a mortal herself, but people somehow put her on a divine pedestal next to their gods. No matter how many hits she took, they knew she would always win in the end. If the day needed saving, be it from lying scoundrels selling vicious artefacts or raiding bokoblins, Lieke delivered. That was what she was meant to do.

And she loved every bit of it.

2

Things were not as enjoyable for the Hero's counterpart, the Prince of Hyrule. As he found himself facing his worst enemy all alone, he longed for his friend and appointed knight. Where was she? Where was Lieke?

Zedekiah watched, frozen with horror, as Ganondra, the auto-proclaimed Desert Queen, advanced on him—only she wasn't a towering gerudo woman anymore. She was much more… feral. Her long, flaming hair sprouted from the crown of her head to the back of her neck, like a lion's mane. Her jaw stretched like a boar's muzzle, long yellowish canines growing towards the high ceiling of the castle. Worst were her eyes: glowing yellow eyes. There was no black pupil, no white sclera—just piercing, even yellowness.

Ganondra soon filled the entire throne room, like a great beast sent by Malice to erase all life in its path. Zedekiah, unable to retreat any further, realized he was looking at his own imminent, inescapable death.

 _Where are you, Lieke? I need you._

If the prince thought there was no more room in his heart for additional fear, he was wrong. Because he suddenly understood that only one thing could keep Lieke from showing up where she was most needed: death. Suddenly, his own impending demise felt rather insignificant to the petrified young man. He thought he might collapse from despair, but the prince was too proud to bow before the atrocious monster.

The beast opened its dripping mouth, blowing its fetid breath on the delicate prince. It could eat him up in a single bite. Zedekiah closed his eyes, yet he raised his chin to the beast. But the great demon did not strike. Instead, its clawed hand—as big as a horse—attempted to seize the prince's own hand.

The trinity symbol carved on Zedekiah's hand—the holy Triforce of Wisdom—suddenly flooded both of them in blinding light. The monster wanted it, but it wouldn't leave the prince so easily.

The great beast screamed in anger and suddenly grabbed Zedekiah by the head. The boy's fleeting fear of suffocation was abruptly interrupted as his skull was forcefully slammed against the stone wall. He slid to the ground, confused, terrified, calling for his friend—yet no sound crossed his lips. One side of his head felt wet and warm. The world around him seemed distant and foggy; he could barely distinguish the royal crest woven into the purple pennon hanging on the wall next to him. The light from his Triforce still flickered feebly, holding on to him.

The monster's hand, moving slowly this time, as though savoring the moment, was back on his head. And it pushed him against the wall—next to his family's symbol—it pushed, and pushed, until it crushed, and the blinded prince felt no more, heard no more, was no more.

3

When Zedekiah opened his eyes again, it was still just as dark. But the smell of sand and the sound of distant torches crackling greeted him. Slowly, his vision adjusted in the night, and he recognized the adobe walls of his room in Gerudo's Fortress. The young man sighed, slowly getting to his feet, out of the silk sheets of his luxurious bed.

Breathing deeply, he slipped in the light robe his host had provided for him. Sweat pearled on his skin, rolling under the cold desert breeze, making him shiver. He walked to the balcony of his room, overlooking the sumptuous backyard of the fortress, where palm trees swayed under the moonlight.

His visions were unwavering: if they continued on their current path, failure was the ending awaiting them. But why was Ganondra in his nightmares? She was dead, he had seen her die. He had shot the arrow that had claimed her life himself.

The tall prince leaned on the balcony's adobe balustrade, seizing his aching head in his hands, gripping his hair now wet with sweat. Could this truly be their faith? Their triforce taken by the enemy. His head squashed like a mere insect. Lieke silenced, unable to rescue them all. Her scented hair, unbraided and scattered. Her soft skin, cold. Her lips, open. Her dark blue eyes, staring.

Were those just mixed fragments of his memories—images of tender moments shared between them—or were they bits of nightmarish visions showing him the broken body of his hero? In the dead of the night, he was beginning to have trouble telling the difference.

There was a soft knock on the wooden door to his room. No words—he knew who that was. Someone who could not risk talking for fear of being unmasked, in this place where only men were allowed. Even if relief flooded his heart knowing she was safe and sound, knowing she was there with him, he cursed the psychic powers having called for her in his dreams. _Again_.

 _It's nothing, Lieke. Go back to sleep_ , he thought.

She didn't reply—she couldn't, as he was the only one with telepathic skills. Instead, she quietly opened the door and swiftly stepped inside the room.

Zedekiah turned to face her, yearning for her comforting embrace—yet, his disinclination to share his vision with her kept him rooted in place. Lieke was wearing the large tunic, thick shawl and headscarf meant to pass her as a man. It had been a sufficient disguise for the guards to let her into this city forbidden to women. They had arrived earlier that night after a complicated ride through the desert, riddled with camouflaged monsters akin to horrifying lizards. Their host, Nabooris, had been kind enough to supply a room for each young hylian—after all, he was the one who had summoned the prince.

Lieke eyed her friend silently, frowning. Stubbornly waiting for him to admit that it wasn't indeed 'nothing'.

"All is well. Satisfied?" Zedekiah turned on himself, gesturing at his apparent wellbeing. "You didn't need to come."

"Beg your pardon Zed, but that's not what you were crying for moments ago," she retorted.

She waited, hoping the silence would force him to talk. This wasn't the first time this happened. He called for her unwillingly through his nightmares, then dismissed her as she arrived panting, sword at the ready. And then called for her again. And again. And again.

"Why don't you tell me the truth?" Lieke finally lost patience. "What are you so afraid of? Something is obviously scaring you in those dreams you have, just tell me what it is."

Zedekiah tightened the robe across his chest, as if his horrible visions could escape through there. His head still felt squashed against a wall; horror and despair were still fresh in his mind. Feeling his eyes burn, he blinked and turned his back on Lieke, returning to the balustrade.

"This knowledge is not meant for you," he whispered. "I don't want it toying with your state of mind. I can't let it affect the part you have yet to play."

Lieke didn't comment on this, accepting his choice.

"Do you want me to stand guard over you tonight?" she offered. "Would that help?"

"You're very kind, Lieke, but no. I don't need this, you should rest."

" _You_ should rest. You haven't slept well for months. I can forgo one night if that means you finally get some quality sleep."

She might have used the same tone to force a bokoblin to return the chicken it had stolen. Zedekiah smiled at her persistence.

"Go," he looked back at her, doing his best to sound decisive.

Lieke bit her lip, nodded slightly, defeated, and headed for the door. How many times would he turn her away before he cracked and told her the truth, he wondered. That he had seen their death, only death, inescapable death? She must suspect it as well by now, but he could not have that.

"Everything will be all right, Lieke," he added quickly. "It's just nightmares. I'm not afraid."

She hesitated, examining his expression.

"All right," she simply said before exiting. She did not believe him.

4

Sun rose on the desert, warming the sand dangerously fast. The red orb rippled behind the heat rising from the ground. The air soon became unbearably arid, even if it was still early when Lieke accompanied Zedekiah to his meeting with the gerudo chief in the gardens.

Nabooris was a surprisingly young leader, but he was still Zedekiah's senior by almost a decade. As such, Hyrule's prince regarded the desert chief as a mentor of sorts. Because of the fortress's strict men-only policy, Zedekiah had become the liaison officer with the gerudo for his mother, and Nabooris had taken it upon himself to train the young prince in politics. If age wasn't enough, Nabooris' imposing stature was definitely worth respecting. Lieke had feared the suspicion her small size for a knight could awaken, but she relaxed when she noted that Nabooris was much taller than any of the other men in charge of his safety.

Despite what their muscular built might suggest, gerudo men were refined people. Their flaming hair was perfumed, combed out, and neatly braided in various fashions. Their clothes were colorful, their textiles intricately woven. Their dark skin was adorned with shinning jewels of gold and precious stones. And Nabooris was undeniably the most stylish of them all. His scarlet hair was tightly tied in a simple ponytail and fell over his shoulder, straight as an arrow. An ornamental choker of gold and rubies circled his thick neck. His handsome topaz eyes were lined with charcoal, and his full lips painted white. Lieke had rarely been this stunned by someone's beauty.

Nabooris offered Zedekiah a warm welcome, gesturing at the prince to join him on the exquisite carpet where he sat. A strange instrument Lieke had never seen rested at his side, emitting a bubbling noise. After studying it quickly at a distance, she decided it was no weapon. They hadn't been in the fortress for a day, and she already thanked the gods for letting her slip in. Among all the things she got to do as a knight, travelling—discovering new cultures and meeting new people—had to be her favorite. She didn't care for the little masquerade she had to put on, though—these large male clothes were cumbersome.

"Your Highness," Nabooris smiled. "How good of you to have come. Sit, sit. I'm sorry we didn't get to talk more yesterday. Judging by the late hour of your arrival, I am guessing our charming new neighbors have slowed you down."

Zedekiah chuckled as Lieke, still standing beside the two seated men, smiled under her shawl. The lizard monsters' only troublesome feature was their numbers. She had quickly learned to spot them at a distance as they stood still, imitating small boulders, and approach them without a sound from behind.

"Nothing we couldn't handle, Nabooris," Zedekiah assured the swarthy man.

"Mmm," the chief hummed appreciatively, turning his striking gaze to Lieke. "I see you have brought a new recruit with you."

Lieke didn't enjoy becoming the center of attention so fast. She buried her face deeper in her shawl. Zedekiah looked surprised by Nabooris' comment, but he swiftly put on a carefree smile.

"I did," the prince replied calmly. "As you know, I often change guards on my travels."

"This one seems rather young," Nabooris squinted.

"He is, but he has shown great promise," Zedekiah explained.

"I see. Step closer, young _voe_ ," the chief ordered.

Lieke obeyed, frowning at this unwelcomed scrutiny. Nabooris got to his feet, leaning closer to Lieke's face. She stood still, looking straight ahead with unease as the giant man whispered in her ear.

"Did you think you could fool me?" he said suavely, raising a hand towards her. "I know your secret."

She flinched, went to hold her disguise in place over her face, but Nabooris' hand gently grabbed a hold of her wrist. He delicately raised the strips covering the Triforce symbol on her hand.

"It is safe with me," he whispered, before speaking in a normal volume, as he returned to his seat. "Highness, why doesn't our esteemed guest sit with us? It would please me greatly if _he_ could also lend a hand in the matter I wish to discuss with you," he said pointedly, obviously aware that Lieke was no man.

Zedekiah suppressed a nervous scoff. "Well, yes of course. Join us, Lieke," he abandoned all pretense. Apparently she wasn't going to be thrown out of the fortress just yet.

Lieke kneeled in a proper manner on the carpet, careful to keep her disguise in place, in case prying eyes happened to look their way. If walls had ears, gardens definitely had eyes.

"Don't worry, highness," Nabooris continued, satisfied to see the girl seated with them. "As far as I am concerned, we are all _voe_ here, aren't we? I know how important this little _voe_ is for the faith of Hyrule. The gods speak to me too. I have seen your soul, little warrior; you are fiercer than the fiercest of gerudo."

Having never known how to react to compliments, Lieke didn't say anything. Although her face felt quite warm, and not because of the desert heat.

"Would you care for some dried fruit vapor?" Nabooris politely offered, pointing at the bubbling object next to him.

Zedekiah declined, but Lieke eyed the instrument with avid curiosity. Perhaps she ought to have spoken her mind out loud, for Nabooris merely puffed away at the bubbling contraption himself, before finally getting down to business.

"I have called upon you, my friend," he says, "because of a serious matter. There has been rumors of a dissident clan dwelling in the desert highlands. As you well know, gerudo are citizens of your kingdom. As such, they are free to establish residence wherever they please—as long as they respect the local authority, that is. This clan lives on gerudo territory, but despite its secrecy, we have learned that it has broken serious gerudo rules. They seem to be living off thievery. We have had several reports of attacks by veiled men in the area where their hideout is thought to be."

Both young hylians listened carefully, their gaze focused.

"We could not let this go on, so I sent emissaries to communicate with the group, to summon a meeting in order to find a peaceful resolution to our problems."

The giant red-headed man sighed angrily.

"Those emissaries never came back. They were calm _voe_ , chosen for their pacifist predisposition, but they were strong, capable warriors. They knew the desert too well to get in serious trouble travelling. We sent search teams: they confirmed that the traces of our emissaries vanished in thin air, a few miles northeast of here."

Nabooris leaned forward, powerful arm planted on the ground, and eyed the prince intently.

"I thought you should be made aware of the situation, highness. And I would very much appreciate your wise advice. I am sorry I didn't travel to the Castle myself, but I wished to avoid bringing attention to this matter. Our people are mistrusted enough as it is, if word should get out that some of us have gone rogue… it could ruin what little trade we have with our hylian neighbors. I assume I can count on your discretion regarding this matter?"

"Of course, I understand. This is indeed a serious matter," Zedekiah replied. "Lieke and I will definitely look into it."

Nabooris smiled—a bewitching, enigmatic smile—revealing teeth as white as the paint on his lips. In that moment, Lieke thought she might agree to do anything for that smile.

5

"Why did you tell him I would accompany you?" Zedekiah asked Lieke once they were alone in the corridor of the fortress leading to their rooms.

Nabooris had suggested to lead the young knight to the territory of the gerudo faction himself. He intended to confront the group, but, should things go south, he counted on the knight's striking force. And then, unexpectedly, Lieke had volunteered the prince's help.

Zedekiah didn't sound angry so much as he sounded like someone trying to conceal their fear.

"Because you need this," his friend shrugged. "It will do you good."

"It will do me good to confront a band of criminals," he repeated incredulously.

"Yes," she said, entering her own room.

She left the door open, and the prince was not done reprimanding his knight.

"I fail to see how," he said from the doorstep, as Lieke gathered the various weapons she had brought.

She didn't answer, seemingly extremely focused on counting the arrows left in her quiver.

"You have no right to put me in this position," Zedekiah pressed. "One might even say you are acting against your duty as a knight. This expedition could be dangerous."

At that, she frowned at him, quizzical. She walked up to him, slowly, quietly, and the prince had to resist the sudden urge to sweep her off her feet and resolve this matter on the single bed at the back of the room.

"In your visions, did you see anything bad involving a band of rogue gerudo?" she asked.

"Well, no, but—"

"Excellent! Then it's settled. You are coming."

She patted his cheek and walked past him, all geared up. She stopped next to the door to his room, awaiting in a professional, guard-like fashion. _Get your things_ , she seemed to say.

6

As Lieke, Zedekiah and the elegant, towering Nabooris walked to the fortress's entrance, curious gerudo men gathered to see their chief and his guests off. At least two dozen of them were watching, talking between them.

"Daddy, why isn't that _voe_ 's hair red?" a child's high-pitched voice caught Lieke's attention.

She spied the child in the crowd, a young boy with flaming red hair and dark skin mounted on his father's shoulder to better see the action.

"Because he is a hylian," she heard the father explain. "This is Prince Zedekiah."

"Zedekiah is the _prince_?" the child replied, astonished. "I thought that was the Hero's name! It sounds like a girl's name," he added disapprovingly.

Lieke was thankful her own foreign traits were hidden under her disguise. Zedekiah didn't seem to mind the child's bold comment; or perhaps he hadn't truly listened to it. Her childhood friend could spend a lot of time locked in his thoughts, but Lieke couldn't remember him ever looking so worried and distracted. He simply walked on, gaze directed vaguely forward, hair and royal jewelry shining brightly under the desert sun, like a broken beacon of pureness.

Whatever was on his mind, Lieke could not let it affect her. As she observed the crowd, she was surprised to notice that none of the citizens seemed worried for the young chief—unlike the hylians of Castle Town she had seen silently eyeing their knights as they were sent into dangerous missions. Instead, the gerudo wished Nabooris luck, or transmitted their vengeful requests with conviction.

"Save our honor, chief."

"Show these vermins what it means to be a true gerudo."

"Make them pay for Ashan!"

Once the fortress's doors were closed behind them, Nabooris answered Lieke's questioning gaze.

"Ashan is one of our missing emissaries," he explained seriously. "His partner has greatly suffered from his disappearance; he seems to have lost the ability to speak. Ashan's brother has been caring for him since then."

"I'm sorry to hear it," Lieke frowned.

She could imagine not ever wanting to speak again if anything happened to someone dear to her. Her father. Zedekiah.

The plants, water and solid adobe floors and walls were left behind, in the oasis encompassed by the fortress. Lieke was soon ankle-deep in hot, white sand. In the distance, she could see the bazaar they had passed on their way to the fortress, only yesterday. In that lively but smaller settlement lived the female hylian partners and daughters of gerudo men. While most of the latter lived in the fortress, oftentimes with their sons, many still visited the bazaar every day. Some worked at the fortress and spent the night at the bazaar with their families. In Lieke's opinion, gerudo seemed nothing like the malicious seducers they were rumored to be—or perhaps their charm was bewitching her as it had countless others before.

Instead of going towards the bazaar, Nabooris guided them further north, towards the distant highlands of red rock. Far above, Lieke could see a thin layer of snow on the flat summits of the mountains. Carved from the rock walls, at the bottom of the highlands, was the breathtaking Desert Collossus, depicting the gerudo's God of the Sand. Zedekiah had told her of all these things, but she had never seen them for herself before.

They travelled in silence, managing their forces as they advanced slowly in the sand and the heat. As they neared the highlands, they reached an area surrounded by natural arches and fins of sandstone.

"This is where our track ends," Nabooris says. "This place is ideal for ambushes. What our enemy doesn't know is, this time, we are the one waiting for them."

Lieke gave her friend a reassuring look. She was ready for them.

Nabooris paced in the sand, apparently focused on listening rather than watching.

"Here they come," he warned.

As soon as his words were spoken, four tall gerudo men slipped from the shadows of the arches, surrounding them. Carmine veils and headscarves hid their faces leaving only their eyes visible. They wore shoulder and hip armors of gold with black patterns painted on them, and desert pants matching their veils. A uniform clearly demonstrating their belonging to the same group. The four of them circled the three travelers.

" _Sav'saaba_ , warriors," the gerudo chief spoke, "I am Nabooris, chief of the Gerudo's Fortress. I have come to enquire after the _voes_ that were sent to speak with you, and find a peaceful—"

He was interrupted by the gerudo in front of him unsheathing his scimitar and lunging towards him. Nabooris parried the attack with surprising grace, his own, much larger scimitar in hand in a flash.

Just as quickly two of their foes jumped on Lieke and Zedekiah. The knight swiftly came between the assailant and her charge, shield at the ready. She deflected the first blow with a powerful shield attack, throwing her enemy off balance towards the second foe gerudo. Both men recovered with impressive backward somersaults.

Apparently there would be no speaking—at least not willingly.

A quick look at Nabooris told her the giant man had taken on the two other masked gerudo. She and Zedekiah could manage these two. She searched for the prince's gaze, hoping he was ready for this challenge, but Zedekiah was scrutinizing their enemies as he would study particularly worrying insects, bow still firmly strapped to his back.

She could manage on her own. She swiftly leaped forward, disarming one of her foes. She kicked the scimitar towards Zedekiah as she kicked the disarmed man to the ground. She turned to the other gerudo just in time to dodge his incoming attack. The scimitar swung past her, threatening to cut open the disarmed man that was charging back at her. This gave her an idea.

She deftly swirled around the disarmed man, reaching under his headscarf to grab the root of his scarlet hair. Her other hand held the master sword to his throat.

"Don't move," she warned the other gerudo.

Everyone had their eyes on her at that moment. Nabooris was pining one of his opponents to the ground—the other laid knocked out on the sand. Zedekiah still observed the gerudo enemies as if they were part of some disturbing experiment he failed to understand. What Lieke hadn't notice, as he had, was the vacant expression in their eyes.

But the only remaining gerudo didn't seem to care for her tactic. He pounced, not towards his captive ally, but towards the prince.

Later, Lieke wouldn't even remember breaking the back of her hostage's knee to incapacitate him—her mind was set on a single objective: getting to the assailant before he got to Zedekiah. No one could touch a hair on the head of the Prince of Destiny, not while she lived.

She didn't even notice how her gerudo hostage failed to emit any sound, any sign of pain, as he fell to the floor. A wind of celestial righteousness swept through the knight as she raised the Master Sword to the assailant's back, lifting the legendary blade, until it was but a weightless extension of her arm.

But before she could strike, the man collided with an invisible barrier—a divine protection Zedekiah had summoned for himself. Lieke was sent to the ground under the heavy gerudo as he fell back. Breathless, she attempted to grapple the large man.

In their struggle, the foe's veil slipped—she didn't notice the gerudo's unusual shade of rose hair—and she finally managed to slip an arm around his throat.

"Stop!" came Zedekiah's frightened voice. "Lieke, don't hurt him!"

And then Nabooris' astonished voice: "Ashan."

But she couldn't stop; the rose-headed gerudo wouldn't stop trashing around in her hold. If she released him ever so slightly, he would attack again. Zedekiah had stooped near them, studying the gerudo he had recognized as Ashan.

"He has been bewitched," the prince said, wincing in contempt.

Slowly, as less and less air made its way to his lungs, Ashan became still. Zedekiah lightly tapped Lieke's arm.

"He's out," he said.

The knight released the unconscious gerudo, letting him roll in the sand. Exhausted from her struggle, she grabbed Zedekiah's extended hand and got to her feet.

Only one assailant remained conscious, and Nabooris was holding him face against the sand. The chief's impressive scimitar rested on the smaller gerudo's throat. The latter quietly kept still. Lieke crouched in front of them and removed the gerudo's veil. His expression was as numb as Ashan's.

"Tell us where your hideout is," she asked firmly, but calmly.

At the sound of her voice, his face lit up with unexpected amusement. He laughed lowly to himself. When he spoke, his words were oddly echoed, as though there were two voices superimposed.

"If you insist," he sneered. "We have been waiting for a challenge worthy of the name. Perhaps you can fare better than your previous friends. But we doubt it."

Lieke, Zedekiah and Nabooris exchanged perplex gazes at this strange choice of pronoun. The gerudo kept talking.

"To find us, you'll have to climb the highlands above the Desert Colossus and find the chasm behind it."

The gerudo's face turned as blank as it previously was. Lieke didn't miss Zedekiah's anxious expression as he turned to the Desert Colossus, not far to the north.

7

The three friends firmly tied the neutralized gerudo together, leaving them in the shadow of a large arch. They would bring them to the fortress on the way back, to be made prisoners until they found a way to break the spell binding them.

The closer they got to the looming statue of the God of the Sand, the sicker Zedekiah felt. Every fiber in him screamed not to get any closer to that place—it harbored something _evil_. As much as he would have liked to dismiss this feeling, his intuitions were usually right.

Lieke and Nabooris however began climbing up the sculpted surface of the cliff bordering the colossus with the ardor of hounds scenting blood. Despite his anguish, Zedekiah couldn't help but notice how splendid Lieke was as she worked her way up, as though the heavy sword and shield on her back weighed no more than feathers.

Thankfully for the prince, who was not as athletic as either of his companion, the way up was filled with small plateaus allowing for short rests. He managed to follow them all the way to the top of the cliff.

The vantage point offered a stunning view of the desert, with the fortress tiny in the distance, and the bazaar even further. But the three adventurers did not pay attention to this exquisite sight—they were too absorbed by the deafening howling coming from behind the cliff. There was the chasm the veiled gerudo had spoken of: in it, a gale raced ferociously upward, creating a violent and loud whirlwind. It couldn't be a natural phenomenon; Zedekiah knew there was some strong magic behind it. It was meant as a gateway. As Lieke and Nabooris observed the dangerous entrance to their enemy's lair, Zedekiah felt panic rise in him, as if standing on a deathtrap.

Nabooris removed his shawl, holding it strongly as it flapped in the wind. The gerudo chief walked to the border of the chasm and tried holding his shawl in both hands: the wind caught in the makeshift paraglider.

"The ground seems as far down as it is on the other side," he yelled over the sound of the gale. "The cliff wall is too smooth to climb down; we'll have to jump. See you down there."

He nodded at Zedekiah, winked at Lieke as an older brother would, and jumped.

Lieke undid her own shawl, imitating Nabooris. When she turned to make sure Zedekiah was following her however, she found him rooted where he stood, far away from the chasm.

"Come on!" she urged him on.

As he didn't move, she walked up to him.

"Zed?" she insisted loudly.

"I think I won't be coming with you," he answered in a low voice.

"What?" But she had heard. "Yes, you will. You came all this way."

"Yes, and this is far enough for me," he said, more loudly this time.

"Why?" She looked astonished.

"Because I shouldn't even be here to begin with. _You_ are the warrior, Lieke. I am not."

"That's not true," she retorted. "No one knows magic like you. If you hadn't been there, I might have hurt Ashan. Why don't you want to come?"

She was right, he did have impressive magical skills. And he had the Bow of Light. But those abilities seemed foreign to him, as though he had forgotten how to use them as he did in a previous life. The visions had erased those memories, leaving only self-doubt and despair.

"Why, Zed?"

"Because I am afraid!" he admitted, almost screaming. "You were right. I am terrified, Lieke, and it's eating me alive."

"Then jump," she replied loudly but calmly over the wind. "Then you won't be afraid anymore."

"It's not that simple!"

"Yes it is," she implored. "You just have to stop thinking about it. Just do as I do."

"Leave me be, Lieke! You think pushing me will change me, but it won't. I'm not like you! Why must you be so persistent?"

Hurt showed on the girl's patient features.

"I was just trying to help," she said.

"I don't want your help!" he cried. "I don't want you to find a solution, I don't want you to fix my problems. It's not what I want."

She raised her brows in surprise.

"Then what do you want?" she yelled over the howling wind.

"I _need_ you to tell me that things will be all right, Lieke! I want your _comfort_. That's all I want," Zedekiah pleaded. "Tell me you'll be there for me, tell me we will make it. Tell me you—"

He interrupted himself.

"Tell you what?" she pushed.

He shook his head, regretting his words. He had slipped from worries of a global perspective to much more personal, trivial worries. No one would die because a girl did not reciprocate a boy's feelings. But the prince did wish the girl would just _say_ something—anything.

"You don't talk to me, Lieke," he said sadly. "I understand, I do; you wouldn't be you if you did. Yet sometimes, I just wish you would."

"Tell you _what_ , Zed?" she insisted, unyielding, patient.

The young man shuffled. Now that the subject was out in the open, he wasn't so sure he wanted to know after all.

"What are we, Lieke? Prince and knight? Friends? Or more than that? Those," he hesitated, asking the question as delicately as he could over the roar of the gale, "those moments, when we are alone… do they mean anything?"

Her gaze fell to the ground, serious, meditative.

"Is that what's been keeping you awake at night?" she asked, not meeting his gaze.

"No," he quickly assured her. But then he thought of the terror he felt when he realized something might have happened to her in his nightmares. "And yes, in some way… I care for you greatly, Lieke."

"Zed," she mumbled and he almost didn't catch her words, "you know I care for you too. I always did."

He smiled awkwardly.

"Well, I do now," he muttered. "I never heard you say it before."

She frowned.

"I didn't think I had to."

Perhaps Zedekiah could have forgone affectionate words, had Lieke rather used tender gestures to show her feelings. Unfortunately, the young woman supplied very few of either. The prince's knight was the very definition of propriety.

"I know it may seem that way to you," the prince said emphatically, "because I sometimes speak to you in your head, but I can't read your mind."

She sighed, looking confused and tired. It was obvious to Zedekiah that his worries came as a surprise to her, and that she did not understand how they came to be.

"I only wanted to make you feel better," she explained loudly. "Danger makes me forget that I'm scared. When I'm in the action, I can't think about anything else. It makes me feel useful, it gives me purpose. I guess I just wanted to share that with you."

The warrior took a few steps back, towards the gulf, looking calm and resolved.

"Now, I'm going. Come with me if you will."

The prince's heart hammered in his chest. He had to decide—and as much as he feared going, he had a feeling he might regret it if he chose to stay. After all, they did need him; he couldn't simply turn his back on them.

"Zedekiah." She stopped, staring into his eyes. Fearless. "It _will_ be all right."

And then she started jogging towards the chasm, each powerful step propelling her faster and faster, until she was sprinting full steam towards the void. She jumped, in a graceful spread eagle, magnificent in the face of danger. In the blink of an eye, she was gone.

Zedekiah was left grumbling exasperatedly, for he knew his mind was set, and he was going to regret his decision. He took his own shawl into his hands.

The prince ran for the windy ravine, and, not quite believing himself, jumped as a terrifying vertigo gripped his heart.

8

Standing in the dark at the bottom of the chasm, resisting the gale's powerful pull, Lieke waited for her friend. A few moments later, her heart lifted as she saw his distant silhouette slowly descending through the air using his shawl as a paraglider. She could swear she even saw an amused smile at the corner of his lips.

When he reached the ground, she didn't say a word about their previous discussion, only gratifying him with a satisfied nod. She proceeded to join Nabooris, who had entered a large cave opening in front of them. Torches lit the walls of red stone, revealing the vast room. Although it did make for a perfect hideout, it was completely empty, except for two circles filled with esoteric symbols carved in the ground of sandstone.

"This smells like a trap to me," Nabooris said. "Best stay on our guards."

Lieke shot her friend a quick glance; instead of the anguished wince she expected, she found a surprisingly resolute expression on his face.

"My name is Nabooris of the gerudo," the tall red-headed man spoke loudly. "As chief of the Gerudo Fortress, I have come to speak with the members of this clan. Reveal yourself."

His voice was deeply commanding, but no response came. At first. Then the same low laughter they had heard with the dissident gerudo resounded in the cave.

"We are so glad you came, Nabooris."

Again, it sounded to Lieke as though two voices were perfectly superimposed. If she wasn't sure of the situation's seriousness before, her inner danger alarm had gone off at the sound of that voice. It was unnatural and dripping with evil.

The two circles of symbols lit up, under the shocked gaze of the three adventurers, and slid along the ground until they merged at the center of the room. From the larger circle thus created, an individual rose.

It was the largest gerudo Lieke had ever seen; much larger than Nabooris or even Ganondra. The giant man wore only pantaloons and large plates of jewelry at the ankles, wrists and neck. In his hands, he held two batons. The most disturbing feature of this man was his head: although it had a pleasant symmetry, it seemed split in the middle by a sudden change in color of face paint. One side was decorated with red notes, while the other sported blue adornments. His white hair was tied back in two buns circled by heavy jewelry, out of which shot out what appeared to be flames to the right, and frost to the left.

"Who are your little friends, chief of the Gerudo Fortress?" the man asked with his strange double voice, giving Lieke a longing glance.

"They have only come to ensure my safety," Nabooris replied. "I'd rather know who _you_ are."

"Oh oh," the man chuckled reprovingly. "But you have great taste in your choice of guards, young man. Unless our elderly eyes are deceiving us, one of your friends is wearing earrings remarkably similar to the symbol of Hyrule's royal family."

The giant, bicolored man looked seductively at the young prince. Lieke felt sick—everything about this person was wrong; his voice, his height, his face, his use of the pronoun 'we', his strange amalgam of young and old features. Faced with silence, the man continued.

"We are shocked that you would not know of us, Nabooris. Did your ancestors not transmit our message? We told them we would get revenge when they exiled us for sorcery, if not on them, on their children. We are patient, Nabooris. Did your fathers not tell you about the great Twinrovan?"

Lieke could see Nabooris clenching his jaw. This news didn't seem to surprise him.

"I am sorry if you feel my ancestors have wronged you," Nabooris said. "I am willing to offer you a fair hearing and chance at redemption, in the name of my people, if you cease all clandestine operations."

"Oh no, sweet child," Twinrovan laughed again, as a parent might do with an adorable yet not very bright kid. "You did not understand us correctly. Today, we finally get our revenge."

With remarkable celerity, Twinrovan waved one of his batons; flames burst from its end, roaring like a great beast, and spiraled towards the young gerudo chief. But Nabooris was even quicker. His great scimitar was in front of him in a split second, shielding him from the flames.

"You are feisty!" Twinrovan laughed. "You will make an excellent addition to our daughter's forces."

"This is your final warning, sorcerer," Nabooris boomed. "Cease all attacks now, or you will face the wrath of the gerudo people."

"And of the hylians of Hyrule," Zedekiah added with grace, standing tall by his friend's side.

A warm feeling of admiration washed over Lieke: _that_ was the prince she had sworn to protect with her life. A just and watchful leader, whose simple yet powerful words commanded respect from his people, and fear from his enemies. Adding weight to the request of her friends, Lieke unsheathed the Master Sword, pointing the long and immaculate blade at their foe.

Twinrovan only chuckled to himself, and replied with another wave of his baton. This time, frost shot from the wand. Again, Nabooris parried the attack with his scimitar, but the sorcerer disappeared as Lieke readied herself for retribution. The three companions formed a tight circle, standing back to back. In the silence of their waiting, Lieke heard the tensed string of Zedekiah's bow stretching.

When the sorcerer reappeared in front of the knight, the prince was ready. He turned around, and shot: the arrow flew just past Lieke's cheek, and went for one of the batons in Twirovan's hand. Clever and magnanimous, Lieke thought with pride, to separate the sorcerer from the source of its powers rather than harm him. And how incredibly dexterous Zedekiah was! But the prince's plan failed: the divine arrow of light couldn't pierce the evil instrument. It disintegrated as its head touched the vicious baton.

"Did you think our magic to be so cheap, stupid boy?" the sorcerer's double voice taunted as his body once more disappeared. "Nothing equals its power. Our fire thaws the mightiest glaciers. Our frost dampens the fiercest pyre. There is nothing you can do."

Their foe appeared in front of Zedekiah, making fire rain over his head. Both Nabooris and Lieke closed in before the prince, scimitar and shield at the ready. The flames licked around their defensive wall. Their enemy's laughter echoed as he disappeared again.

The three friends had to endure the sorcerer's assault for many turns, unable to get close enough to place any counter-offensive. Lieke was desperately calculating their every option, when Zedekiah turned his head towards her.

"Let him get to me," he ordered his allies.

When he reappeared next, Twinrovan showered them with fire again. But this time, Zedekiah stepped in front of his friends, and conjured a protection of his own. A majestic shield of light appeared before the prince. Instead of being stopped by it as it had on Lieke's shield, the fire bounced right off the magical artefact, returning whence it came.

The flaming projectile collided with the sorcerer, who screamed with rage as he fell to his knees. Lieke sprinted towards their fallen foe, ready to attack, but Twinrovan quickly sent flames her way to stop her.

He was soon back on his feet, deciding to change technique: blades of fire and ice erupted at the end of his batons, turning them into dangerous scimitars. A furious battle ensued, where he delivered vicious blows at their huddled group before swiftly disappearing. Despite managing to parry all of the attacks, the three companions became scattered and uncoordinated in the face of such powerful abilities.

Lieke barely managed to swerve on herself in time to see the sorcerer appear in front of Zedekiah and pierce his shield of light with the scimitar of ice. The prince however, as the frost licked the tip of his nose, managed to turn this to his advantage: he pushed the shield towards his stuck enemy. In this battle of magical prowess, the sorcerer had found his match. The blade of frost was pushed back until it came to rest on Twinrovan's cheek, causing him to shriek.

But then Zedekiah's body shook, his knees giving out, as the scimitar of fire transpierced him. Lieke's cry caught in her throat. She darted forward.

The sorcerer was bending over the prince, pushing his blade deeper. Zedekiah rose a delicate hand, gasping.

His hand touched Twinrovan's forehead.

And gripped it mercilessly as the sorcerer's head kicked back in agony. Lieke halted herself, protecting her gaze from the blazing light erupting from the contact. Twinrovan's terrible double scream echoed through the cave, desynchronizing, turning into two more and more distinct voices.

As suddenly as it had appeared, the light vanished. Blinking, Lieke rushed to the form of her friend, slumped to the ground. Next to him laid the weapon that had stabbed him, now a simple baton, and two other crumpled forms. But she had no eyes for those.

Zedekiah's blue eyes followed her as she stooped over him. The blade had torn and burnt his shoulder, but Lieke thanked the gods it hadn't been a fatal blow.

"Told you it would be all right," she smiled.

He winced, but managed to smile back.

"This is what all right means to you?" he groaned.

Lieke didn't answer, instead retrieving a clay bottle hanging next to her quiver. Under the prince's stare, she uncorked it. Out of the bottle, a single fairy flew, lazily circling around the wounded prince. Sparkles of pink light snowed over the healing flesh as the little creature worked its magic. Appeased, Lieke let her hand rest on the ground next to her friend's, intertwining her fingers with his.

Behind Lieke, Nabooris let out a throaty chuckle.

"Well done, my prince," he proclaimed. "Now, let us see who we are truly dealing with, shall we?"

The handsome gerudo man walked up to the two motionless forms next to the prince, his long ponytail of scarlet hair swaying behind him. With the tip of his foot, he turned one of the small heaps over to reveal a dreadfully old man, unconscious. He did the same with the second form, who turned out to be an exact replica of the first old man. Two identical, extremely old and small gerudo men.

"Lieke, help me bind those criminals," Nabooris said. "And brake their staffs."

"It's no use," Zedekiah intervened as he rose to his feet. "I have purged Malice from their souls. They no longer have any power."

Nabooris raised an incredulous brow at the prince.

" _Sa'oten_ ," he murmured with awe in his mother tongue.

9

Birds as small, colorful and brisk as insects sped through the various flowers growing in large clay pots around the clear pools. Besides the tranquil lapping of water, only the flapping of their wings could be heard. Zedekiah halted himself as he entered the private bathes of the fortress, taking in the peacefulness, the quiet. No sounds, no fear, only bright desert light.

And a certain girl dressed as a man, resting her legs in the water. Eyes closed against the sun. White speckles of sunlight caught in the free locks of her dark blonde hair.

Lieke heard his naked feet stepping on the ceramic floor and turned her head to him. Even though the prince knew she always awaited their next adventure, he felt the knight wished they didn't have to go so soon. The desert and its people seemed to appeal to her in a way no other place had before.

Her gaze soon slipped to the present he was bringing with him.

"Zed, what are you doing with my shield?" she frowned.

The prince handed her the shield. As he had thought back on the events of the previous day, Zedekiah had realized that it was only his own magical powers that had brought an end to their combat. Had he not been there, there was nothing Lieke or Nabooris could have done with mere steel to stop their enemy. The prince didn't want that to happen again, at a time when he might not be there with her. He would think of his nightmarish visions, wonder if it was a hex that stopped her from saving the day.

So he had enchanted her shield.

"I gave it a little upgrade," Zedekiah explained. "It will now reflect spells as my own magical shield does, instead of merely deflecting them. That way you can use it not only to defend yourself, but also to riposte, when you face foes your sword can't harm."

She raised her brows at the shield. "Wow. Zed, that's… thank you."

"I should be the one thanking you, Lieke," Zedekiah sighed. "You helped me fight my fears. You awakened the warrior in me. It only seemed fair that I should repay you however I could."

With a smile, he let his hand rest on hers, and turned to watch the birds flying around the pool. Lieke laid the shield next to her with her free hand and shifted closer to the prince.

"You're not scared anymore, then," she stated more than she asked.

"Not exactly. It's more that… well, let's say I have faith," he replied.

She hummed.

"It will be all right," she declared at the birds.

"I believe so," he agreed.

For a moment, they stayed silent, enjoying the serenity. When Zedekiah felt the weight of her gaze on him, he turned to find her wearing a sly smile. He couldn't see her mouth through her shawl, but her playful gaze said long enough. Confused, he smiled back. Lieke inched closer—Zedekiah's insides fluttered—until she reached his cheek. Her lips brushed his skin lightly, tickling him.

Deciding he'd rather seize the moment, the young man turned to kiss her on the lips. It filled him with warmth, with bliss. In the end, did words truly matter, if she was there with him?

A shrill whistle however cut short to the prince's happiness, making his heart leap in his chest. As Lieke fumbled with her shawl, Zedekiah quickly spun towards the noise, only to find their friend Nabooris walking towards them.

"I honestly can't say that I'm shocked," the chief said with a mischievous smile. "But you really should try to keep your knight's face covered within the fortress, highness."

Lieke was resolutely avoiding visual contact with the gerudo—Zedekiah was fairly certain her face was redder than usual, even though the shawl and headscarf hid most of it. The prince however forced his awkward grimace into a graceful smile.

"What news from our returned emissaries?" He asked his host.

Nabooris held up his head with pride. "They are true gerudo warriors. They are back to their true selves; once broken, the twin wizard's spell didn't leave any undesirable aftereffects. Of course, it will take time before they accept that whatever actions they may have commit was no fault of their own, but at least, they do not seek revenge. Knowing their oppressors were dealt with is enough to appease their vindictive hearts."

"That's good to hear," Zedekiah said. "Their families must be relieved."

"Indeed. I was informed that Ashan's partner spoke again this morning."

"That is excellent news!"

"That is why I came to see you, my prince," Nabooris declared most seriously. "The gerudo people is indebted to you. We will not forget your courage, little hylians."

This time, Zedekiah knew he was the one reddening. There was something incredibly uplifting in being praised by such a fierce, righteous and—admittedly—beautiful man as Nabooris.

"You owe me nothing, Nabooris," he said. "It was my duty to assist you."

"I only expected you to share your wisdom, my friend. But I now see we never could have resolved this matter peacefully without powers as extraordinary as yours."

"Then thank Lieke," Zedekiah turned to his knight. "It is her tenacity that got me to accompany you."

"Very well, bless be your tenacity, strong warrior," the gerudo bowed shortly, and Lieke averted her gaze, visibly uncomfortable. "And perhaps you'll be better placed than me to get your stubborn _arqsva_ to accept my gratitude," the man added with a frustrated shake of the head.

This did nothing to improve Zedekiah's hotness. Judging by the Lieke's frown, she didn't understand the meaning of that word. But the prince knew it was a term gerudo generally reserved for their significant other. _Lover_ might be an appropriate translation.

"How is your shoulder, highness?" Nabooris asked with a sly smile—oh, he knew the awkwardness this choice of word would create, and he was clearly enjoying himself.

"It's as good as knew, thank you for asking," Zedekiah blurted, jumping on this occasion to change the subject.

"Good. We don't want you returning from our lands with a nasty injury. That wouldn't make us look very good." There was teasing in his voice, but there was also a hint of true worry.

Zedekiah smiled reassuringly, yet inside he made a note of sparing his mother many details of their adventure, especially the part about him engaging into a fight, or getting stabbed by a blade of fire. The queen had made it clear that her son's duty to this kingdom was one of spiritual devotion and enlightened leadership—not reckless combat.

"I suppose you cannot stay here much longer, can you?" Nabooris asked.

"Indeed, the gerudo are not the only ones who have called upon our aid," the prince sighed. "We must be on our way."

"Well then, enjoy the bathes before you go, my friends," the tall red-head smiled. "They are the finest ones in all of Hyrule."

"Don't say that in front of Darun," Zedekiah teased. "Or any of the Zora siblings."

"Pff, little royal brats think their craft is so much better than ours. But it is filled with water so icy you can hardly call it a bath! As for the goron, keep well away from that kettle they call a hot spring if you like your skin blister free."

Nabooris let out a deep laugh, which the prince answered with a chuckle. Lieke stared dreamily at the water; she had met the zora royal family once as she had been sent to help weed out monsters from the Zora River, but she had not travelled all the way to the top of Death Mountain to see the goron yet. But Zedekiah knew she would. The prince and the knight still had plenty of adventures to live together, before meeting their final challenge.

* * *

Author's notes: Thanks a lot for reading! If you enjoyed this, please let me know! A small review or pm is always welcomed. I'd love to know how you react to this weird story. Big thanks to ObeliskX for your support, hope you enjoyed this addition.


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